


Ready as I’ll Ever Be

by Rocketro



Series: MCYT Tangled AU [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Attacking people with mutant animals and automatons, Back at it again with the Tangled AU, Kidnapping, Someone trapped in a coma-type thing, Tubbo just can’t enjoy his birthday, mentions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26207956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rocketro/pseuds/Rocketro
Summary: After a terrible blizzard, a failed experiment resulting in his brother being trapped in amber, and being denied help by the one person who could save his brother, Eret has snapped. He is willing to do anything to rescue Sapnap from the amber, even if he has to threaten the people the prince lives in order to lure him over.What he needs is a little distraction to lure security away from the king just long enough to take him back to the lab.———You guys seemed to enjoy the first part I posted, so here’s a second part with Eret! As soon as this is done, I’m probably going to start on Nothing Left to Lose.I de-aged Eret in this so that he was still kinda similar to Varian. I made Sapnap Eret’s older brother instead of dad, so that he would still be about the age of the other member of the Brotherhood.Based on the song Ready as I’ll Ever Be from Tangled the Series
Relationships: Eret and Sapnap, Skeppy and Badboyhalo and Tubbo
Series: MCYT Tangled AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903333
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Ready as I’ll Ever Be

Eret hated amber. The color, the rock, everything. He despised it with every ounce of his being, hating it more than anything.

Well, almost anything.

One thing surpassed his hatred for amber, that being Prince Tubbo. Eret’s so called “friend” who let the guards cast him out of the castle in the middle of a horrible blizzard and left Eret’s best friend and brother to rot inside his amber prison.

And then, to make everything worse, rumors spread saying that he attacked the prince. His neighbors would refuse to listen to him, shop owners wouldn’t serve him, and some people even went so far as to threaten and beat him up. Of course, everyone would believe that a fifteen-year-old kid who they already disliked would assault their supposed older friend.

They wouldn’t listen to the truth, the truth that he had begged the prince to help his suffering brother and was cast aside as if he was a stranger. No, the prince wouldn’t cast out a stranger, too “kind” and “sweet” and “innocent”. It was disgusting.

Eret was struggling to even get enough to eat, having to wear a cloak hiding his face and travel six hours on foot to another village to buy food and supplies. It didn’t help that the money was dwindling down.

Eret didn’t have any experience in making money. A few times he managed to earn a few coins, but nothing worth mentioning. His hobby and aspired job was an inventor and alchemist, making machines and potions to help others and make life easier. Unfortunately, his inventions had a tendency to blow up in his face, a lot of times quite literally. Eret’s brother was the one to get the money used to buy supplies and pay taxes to the kings by fighting in tournaments or traveling.

Speaking of the kings, they were almost as bad, if not worse, as the prince. King Skeppy and King Bad, regarded as fair and peaceful rulers. A lot of their kingdom seemed to forget how when the prince was still missing, they would lock up a criminal who’s only crime was stealing a simple apple for life and treat them as they would treat a mass murderer. Most of them were probably still locked up.

Not only that, but both of them chose to ignore Sapnap and Eret when they told them of the rocks slowly corrupting the kingdom. If it wasn’t for them doing that, they could’ve evacuated the kingdom and put a stop to it. Then, Sapnap wouldn’t of told Eret not to mess with the rocks, and Eret wouldn’t of made the choice of choosing to ignore his brother and continue experimentation, causing the amber to grow from the rocks and consume his brother.

Eret had a lot of time to think over things, and each time he thought, he grew more and more bitter towards the prince. He guess he could understand that Tubbo had a job to do with protecting his kingdom in a severe weather crisis. However, it had been a month since then, and nobody had even bothered to check on Eret or Sapnap.

It made Eret sick. He had to do something, not only for Sapnap, but for all of the other families that suffered because of the royal family.

And he had an idea. A brilliantly, twisted idea. An idea to rescue his brother and show the kingdom the true nature of the kings and prince. To get justice for all of the suffering victims of the royals.

It started with taming a dog.

———  
The dog wagged his tail, panting with his tongue out goofily as he watched Eret.

Eret’s plan was just about to start, and what better day to do it on than the prince’s birthday?

Eret already had the growth potion ready, as well as the automatons. He found the diagrams on automatons in the royal library, back when he still believed that the prince was his friend. 

The plan was simple; use a smoke potion to obscure the vision of the guards, distract all of them with the mutant dog, then while they’re busy dealing with that, sneak in and kidnap the king. 

They would hear Eret’s voice speaking and come after him, knowing that he took their precious king. All of the royal guard would attack at the front and be stopped by the automatons. King Skeppy and Prince Tubbo would, predictably, attempt to sneak in through the back tunnel and get caught in the trap set there. Just as planned.

Eret gave the dog the potion, gave the order to attack, and broke the smoke potion. He smirked at their confusion, especially the prince and Tommy’s.

Tommy. Also one of Eret’s “friends” who never really cared, only using him to do his chores so that Tommy could do his guard assignments.

Eret stood right outside the doorway where King Bad was watching the chaos. He spoke into a microphone, which was projected through his dog’s collar.

“ Hello, L’manberg,” he greeted, seeing the confusion of many of the guards and the shocked recognition of his ex-friends. “Something dark is coming for you. Our kings have refused to acknowledge it. In the hopes of keeping his secret, they have lied to you and vilified me. In a matter of days, L’manberg, this island, and the castle itself, will be overcome by this growth. It has already taken over the outskirts of the kingdom. The key to stopping this destruction is Prince Tubbo himself.”

Eret had to stop himself from laughing aloud at the absolute despair on the older boy’s face.

“I have asked for help and have been ignored. I will not be ignored any longer! And to make sure I have your attention, I've developed a new serum and created something special for you all!”

That was the cue. With that, his giant mutated dog attacked the guard, weakening them. Eret didn’t waste a second in entering the room with King Bad.

“Hello, Your Majesty. Sleep.” 

Eret blew a green powder at the king, causing his eyes to flutter for a few moments before passing out. All according to plan.

———  
Eret took the king into the lab and shackled his wrist to the wall. After a few minutes, which he spent duplicating a few of his potions that he placed in his satchel when completed.

Eventually, the king groggily opened his eyes and, upon finding himself restrained in an unfamiliar environment, began panicking and struggling.

Eret strolled over to the king, smirking confidently. “Don't worry, Your Majesty. You are merely bait to lure the prince here. Only his magic can shatter the amber and free my brother.”

Bad tried smiling kindly and attempted to convince the boy to set him free. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sure we can all discuss this over some muffins and discuss this in a civil manne-“

“I tried asking for help in a civil manner, but was denied by everyone in L’manberg,” snapped Eret, cutting the king off. “So, unfortunately, this is my only remaining recourse.”

Eret walked over to where the amber was, covered with a white sheet, and ripped the sheet off. Bad gasped, looking at his friend in shock.

“But what will you do after you've freed your brother?” The king questioned.

“After?” Eret laughed, a haunting laugh that caused Bad to actually feel intimidated of this young kid. “Oh, well, I'm afraid L’manberg will pay for turning their backs on me. And that's when you should start worrying, Your Majesty.”

Eret smirked, and for once Bad was glad that the sunglasses concealed his eyes. The king didn’t think he’d be able to see those hate-filled eyes

“Any moment now, Your Highness.” Eret used the royal title mockingly, smirking at the “powerful” king at the mercy of a kid. “Believe me, I know I've sunk pretty low, but whatever I've done, you've deserved,” he growled.

“Eret-“ Bad called out. 

“Quiet!” He yelled, making the king flinch back. “I'm the bad guy, that's fine!” He declared, almost seeming like he was trying to convince himself. “It's no fault of mine, and some justice at last will be served.”

“Please listen!” Begged King Bad, eyes full of pity for this unfortunate teen.

“Now it's time to step up, or it's time to back down, and there's only one answer for me!” Eret monologued, placing a few more potions gently in his satchel. “And I'll stand up and fight, ‘cause I know that I'm right! And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready! Ready as I'll ever be.”

Looking outside, Eret spotted the royal guard attacking up front, as expected. What wasn’t expected, however, was Tommy leading the attack with Wilbur and Fundy close behind. Eret assumed that his dog attack injured Captain Phil, so he put his son, Tommy, in charge.

As much as he kept telling himself that none of his past friends actually cared for him, it still stung that they were first in line to try to take him down. He’d just have to show them the truth, show them how corrupt the kings and prince were.

“I'll make them hear me!” Eret said out loud. He was ready, he was. “Ready as I'll ever be,” he murmured.

He placed a doll double of him right in front of the window, and walked back over to where Bad sat.

“What a happy family reunion this will be,” Eret grinned eerily before looking towards his encased brother. “For both of us.”

Eret closed the curtains to where Bad was, concealing him from view. He the hid at the base of the steps around a corner, waiting until the king and prince arrived.

The floorboard creaked as the king and prince not-so-sneakily arrived in the lab. They talked to each other in hushed tones that Eret was unable to hear. As usual, that stupid bee was hovering near Tubbo.

King Skeppy jumped forwards towards the doll, Tubbo right behind him. They both looked in confusion after realizing that it was just a doll, a diversion. A potion fell, coating their legs in goo and sticking them firmly to the floor.

“What is this?” Tubbo cried.

Eret came out from his hiding space, his now signature mocking smirk on his face. He took a nearby cage and trapped Spins inside it, placing it on top of a table. Eret’s dog sniffed it curiously.

“Eret, I demand you release us, and tell me where Bad is,” Skeppy shouted.

Eret rolled his eyes, although Tubbo and Skeppy couldn’t see it. “Your Majesty, I know it's hard for you, but for the first time in your life, you are in no position to demand anything,” he mocked. “But in the spirit of compromise, how 'bout I meet ya halfway?” 

Eret moves over and opened the curtains, revealing Bad to the other two royals.

“Bad!” Skeppy called.

“I'm okay, guys.” Bad reassured.

“Let her go, Eret! Please!” Tubbo was starting to get desperate.

“First, you're going to do something for me.” Eret responded cooly, staring Tubbo straight in the eye.

“What do you want?” Growled the king, still visibly worried for Bad.

“Oh! So now you care about what I want,” he laughed humorlessly. “All it took was threatening the things you love the most.” He tilted his head and grinned toothily, almost innocently, at the two.

“What are you going to do, Varian?“ Demanded Skeppy.

The teen huffed and waved his hand in an exasperated way. “Yeah, I'll spare you the details about the Sun Drop and darkness, blah, blah, blah, and get to the good stuff.”

He knocked on the amber.

“This right here is made out of the rocks, the same rocks that Tubbo causes reactions to. To put it plainly, Tubbol's magic should be able to shatter the amber, and free my brother.”

“What do you mean ‘should’?” Skeppy’s eyes widened.

“Oh, I suppose it's just as likely the blast it causes could shatter Tubbo. I mean, the properties...”

“Absolutely not!” 

“It's not your choice, Dad,” Tubbo said, resigned, as he looked sadly at Eret. 

Eret leaned on Skeppy’s shoulder and smirked. “She's right, Dad,” he mocked. “Oh! And I almost forgot, we're, uh, kinda on a time crunch here,” he grabbed a potion from his satchel and strode over to where Bad was restrained. “So, I'm gonna need to speed things along.”

Eret sprinkled the potion on a nearby rock, causing amber to slowly start forming, creeping up to Bad.

He took the solution and freed Tubbo from the goo, escorting him to the amber.

“Eret, if this doesn't work, and something happens to me, please, please, let them go.”

Eret stares at him coldly, having no mercy. “I can't make any promises, Prince.”

Tubbo put his hand on the amber. Eret smiled hopefully, thinking that finally his brother would be rescued. Tubbo’s hand started glowing a sickly mix of light blue and gold, and he started crying out. A small explosion of light occurred, Eret shielding his eyes with his arm.

However, when he was able to see again, the amber was the exact same and Tubbo lay on the ground, clutching his blistered hand.

“What?! Why?” Eret stumbled back before dragging Tubbo up and forcing his hand on the amber.

Light appeared again, with no result still. Tubbo started crying from pain, his arm a splotchy red mess with small patches of blood.

“Stop it! He can't take anymore!” Skeppy cried.

“Tubbo!” Eret fell to his knees. 

Meanwhile, the dog had knocked over the cage, accidentally freeing Spins. The bee grabbed the vial of solution and handed it to Skeppy. Skeppy rescued himself before tossing his nearby sword to Bad, who cut his restraints off and ran to stand beside Skeppy and escape the amber.

“I just I-I don't understand! Why won't it-..His magic! It-it should've destroyed it! Why didn't it work?!” Eret felt tears welling up in his eyes as he started to breath erratically.

Skeppy ran over to the prince. “Tubbo. Tubbo!”

He and Bad carefully lifted up Tubbo, who’s hand was still incredibly injured, into a tight hug.

“No! No! I wasn't wrong!” The boy mumbled frantically. “It's not my fault! None of it is!” He turned around to glare at the “happy little family” next to him. “It's his fault.”

“Tubbo, are you okay?” Bad asked, concerned, staring at the prince’s beat up arm.

Tubbo put his other hand on top of it, mumbling a small song. The injury glowed a faint golden before subsiding, revealing the injury had turned into just a few scars and plenty of bruises.

Tubbo sighed, looking up at Bad. “Yes, I will be. Eret-“ he started, looking at where the kid had just been. But he was nowhere to be seen. “Where did he go?” 

A deep rumbling echoed through the lab, combined with a heavy shaking similar to an earthquake. A giant robot, larger than the other automatons, burst through the ground.

“Sorry, Prince!” Sneered Eret. “We were in this together! But if I can't have a happy ending, then neither can you!”

Tubbo, Skeppy, and Bad sprinted outside where the guard was still fighting off all of the automatons. Eret, controlling the giant robot, followed close behind.

As Eret stared down at all of the soldiers, he grabbed Bad in one metallic hand, and someone else in the other.

“Hello, Tommy. I always knew I could sweep you off your feet!” Eret laughed maniacally at his joke while Tommy cussed him out and struggled to escape the robot’s grasp.

“Let him go, Eret!” Bad yelled, looking at Tommy with concern.

“That's enough, Varian!” Shouted Tubbo, trying to keep the fear out of his voice as his father and his best friend were in a life-or-death situation.

“It's not enough until you endure the same amount of pain and agony I have!” Eret shot back, tightening his grip on the two, causing them to cry out in pain.

Tubbo started forwards, but the rocks surrounding him suddenly started glowing a light blue.

“What's happening?!” Tubbo asked himself, before he answered the question himself.

He was connected to these rocks. Really, truly, connected. He reached out towards one, almost as if in a trance. Then came a large explosion of blue.

Somehow, all of the guards were unaffected, while all the automatons (including the Eret was in) were flung backwards into rocks, destroying them. Bad and Tommy fell from the robot’s hands, Skeppy and Wilbur catching them respectively (the latter getting an earful from the teenager before dropping the kid on the ground).

Wilbur walked over to Tubbo, Tommy following close behind. “We have got to start finding better ways to spend your birthdays,” Wilbur joked, giving a small smile. 

From the ruins of the giant automatons, the royal guards dragged a handcuffed Eret into a wagon heading straight for the dungeons. With a small woof, the dog bounded in after his owner, nuzzling at Eret’s legs comfortingly.

Eret glared down at the ground, feeling a need for revenge stronger than ever.

“I will make you proud of me, Sapnap, if it's the last thing I ever do.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I originally planned to just write the song portion, but then it ended up just being that whole episode, so-
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed!


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